1. Field of Invention
A vehicular ladder rack to movably support a ladder upon a utility vehicle such as a van or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is a common practice to transport ladders on vehicles such as vans and pick-up trucks. Generally, positioning ladders on top such vehicles is an awkward undertaking. In addition, retaining the ladder in a stationary mode during travel can be difficult. For example, one end of the ladder at a time is ordinarily placed on a rack. Therefore maintaining the first end thereof in place while positioning the other end of the ladder can present difficulties. Once the ladder is atop of the rack, it is ordinarily free to move about, thereby producing objectionable vibrations, noises and abrasive wear upon both the ladder itself and any carrying rack therefore. Moreover, the ladder may become detached from the rack and even fall to the ground. Accordingly, a need has long exist for a simplified ladder rack to facilitate mounting of a ladder atop of vehicles and then the securing of the ladder in place to prevent movement and abrasive wear during transport, all while permitting the ladder to be easily removed as desired.
A further difficulty in the prior art has been that most systems require substantial manual effort in their use such that a typical female worker, such as a telephone installer, will typically encounter difficulty in effecting the convenient and safe removal of the ladder from any of the prior art means for storage and transportation of ladders on utility vehicles that are known in the art. A representative example of the prior art in this area, as best known to the inventor is as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,681 discloses a device for storing an elongated article on a vehicle comprising a rack with a plurality of arms pivotally connected along an upper portion of the vehicle. The arms are moveable about a horizontal axis and extend outwardly at substantially right angles to the length of the vehicle during movement between a down position and upright position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,607 teaches a ladder rack for a vehicle comprising ladder-holding members, a pair of links pivotally attached to the vehicle in co-axial relation to each other at opposite ends thereof. A torque element is provided to transmit a turning force.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,963,136 shows a retractable ladder rack for use on the top of vehicle. The rack has one or more channel members which can be attached to the roof of the vehicle, The rack can slide along the channel members to a lower position to facilitate the loading and unloading of a ladder or similar object.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,331 discloses a ladder rack mounted on top of a vehicle including upstanding guide stops to hold one end of a ladder while the other end is being pivoted onto the rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,834 teaches a vehicle rack comprising a clamping device for releasably clamping a ladder thereto. The device includes a clamp arm which is pivoted to a rigid support and operated by a crank mechanism by moving across a dead-center position to secure the ladder in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,117 discloses a ladder rack for a vehicle roof comprising clamps for releasable attachment to the roof of a vehicle. A subframe carries front and rear ladder support assemblies each comprising transverse rollers for engaging the cross-bars of a ladder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,387 teaches a carrier which can be extended and retracted relative to the rack and hinged to facilitate loading and unloading of the material carried by the rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,791 teaches a carrier system for a van-type vehicle in which, however, the rack does not lower the ladder to a low enough level to be useful to most female workers.
The instant invention therefore addresses the above shortcomings in the prior art.